Battery testing apparatus



P 1941- B. F. w. HEYER 2,254,846

BATTERY TESTING APPARATUS 7 Original Fi led March 24, 1958 3 SheetsSheet l V I I V Y INVENTOR. s.

B. HQ er ATT RNEY,

Sept. 2, 1941, B. F. w. HE YER '2,254,-'s4e.

BATTERY TESTING APPARATUS Original Filed March 24, 1958 s Sheets-Sfig sv OH INVENTOIT. B. F He ye r R ATTORN Y.

Patented Sept. 2, 1941 UN ITED; T; ICE.

I .mrmnr rssrmc lirmaarus' g Benjamin F.Heyer,'f'lenaflfy, l\lj;Original application M rch'24,' ;1s3s', an] 0.

-- 197,825. Divldediand this application septeni her 13, 1939, SerialNo. 294,736. I 11 Claims. (c1.1-l 1s3 ;jf

This application is a; divisionof' application for patent seriallynumbered 197,825yfiled "by me on March 24, 1938.

,My invention relates to new and useful improvements in battery testingapparatus and for the purpose of convenience I have illustrated parthave been intended for use :with voltmeters employing a single scale forindicating the conand will describe my invention in connection I with awell-known form of testing apparatus.

ranged one within the other and I employ a' single selectors'witch,iwhich may be moved to vides for the making of additional testsas inv dicated above;

-.A third ieature .0! .myinvention is to provide a simplifiedarrangement by which two shunts of ,widely difierentvalues ma'ytbeplaced into operative condition bytheuse of asingle switch.

v be hereinafter niore'fullydescribed.

' V The, details'of my invention willbe made clea any one of a pluralityof positions, whereby volt-' ous circuits; Thus with the electricalcheck unit, which'lh'ave selected for the purpose of illustration,certain positions of the selector switchwill indicate the conditions ofthe separate cells of battery, usually three in number. Otherpositionsot the selector switch will disclose cable losses'interms ofvoltage. Another position will indicate the current draw in terms'ofvoltage 4 loss imposed upon the battery starting motor.

' Otherpositions will indicate the value of, input and output of batterycurrent and "stm otherpositions'of the selector switch willindicate thevalueof-the generator currenton voltage scalesclaim is to color by meansoiconspicuous colors the-various segments. ormulti-segments oijth'eselector switch, so as to coincide with "the co1or-3 p ing of the scalesof the voltmeter. Thus bygiv-r ,T3 erence; 5

ing a distinctive color to each segment orjmultie segment of theselector switch; the operator is able to quickly and accuratelyobservethe voltage readings on :the' selected meter scale; it be-' ingunderstood that the meter is provided with.

a single pointer, common to all the scales. As

concuctors; and

ere se M'bMbe-M e I I from'jthe' following descriptiontaken in connecagereadings will indicate the conditions of varithe circuits and.accompanying elements emplayed with the check unit above referred to;

- FigureZ is a front view of the face plate of the selector-switch,illustrating the color dinerentiation of the several positions ofthe'selectcr switch;

Figure 3 isa .front view 01' the voltmeter, illustratingparticularly;the several indicating scales thereof; Y 7

Figure -iis asectional my improved clip. ,S QWiDZ' the same attachedthe, battery from the left;

. In. all'ot the-accompanyingji I .Referring first to 1,;If1ls tH'1starting a I motor, 2 the startingswitch, nag: the storage battery'whichusually comprises three' cells. One, I

terminal s; or the battery connects "with the grounded starting motorLitht': other terminal '5 1 being grounded to .the frame. [of-theautomobile.

a practical matter this arrangement is extremely useful, since it allthe scaleswere oi the same color, the operator would have difflculty infollowingthe readings on the selected scale and hisobservationstherefore would be incorrect, The second feature oimyinventionis toprovide an improvedform of spring clip which can be made by the simpleoperation of the" selector;

A seriesgof contacts 1-7, 8-4; 9-9, Ill-l0,

ll--H, l2'-l2,= ll .I 3,, I4 ,ll", li -I5, |G--l6,- and lT-l'lconstitute the terminals of a selector switch, the movable member ofwhich is caused to engage Buccessively'with said contacts. The

voltmeter n tnmu h-ieadslla le is electrically connected tothemovable'member of the selector be applied to the desired battery post,generally switch in order to show the desiredvoltage readings- -AsshowninFigure .2 the movable'member of "the selector switch is carriedby a shaft'so that the various contacts 1-1 to |l --l'| are su-cswitch.The construction and operation of said contactmember. Z clip will behereinafter described and claimed.

As with said electrical check-unit the said con- Figures sa fs ectionali e with F gure an an elevation viewed soc ref- Speakinggenerallyfbattery clips ior the 'most- V tacts provide for the followingvoltase readings: 1-1, voltage of positive cell: 3-9, voltage of middlecell;v 9-9 voltage of negative cell Iii-i positive lead -to starter;ll--II negative lead to starter; |2-i2, leads to starting switch 2;13-13 input leads for battery current; |4l4 output leadsfor batterycurrent; 15-45 contacts for generator current for cooperation with 60ampere shunt 21 and controlling rheostat 22; 16-49 and I1-I1 connectionsfor 10 volt scale and volt scale.

It will be seenfrom Figure 2 that the positions of the selector switchare indicated by corresponding printed matter and that the groupcorrespondingto contacts 1- 1,' H, and 9-9 are included in group 1,contacts for iiiand "-1 I are included in group 2, the segment forcontacts 121-12 is indicated at 3, the segments member carried by thepivot 23 and comprising a jaw or electrode 34 and a pressure member 3|carrying an anvil 38. Between pressure member 33 and the anvil 36 isinserted the end of the battery cable 31 which has been removed from theterminal post 4 and placed with its terminal clamp between the members33 and 36. The clamp will be held tightly in position, while the jaws 32and 34 will tightly graspthe terminal post 4 under the tension of spring29.

A spiral spring 38 connects the member 26 with an insulating member 39carried by the angular for contacts I 3-I3 and 14- are indicated bygroup 4, and thesegments for contacts l6-I8 and I1-|1 are indicated-bygroup 5. The latter figures are enclosed in a double circle. In thecircuit between the starting switch 2 and the electrode 4 is a 600ampere shunt 23 to take care of the heavy starting current drawn fromthe battery in starting. It will be noted that the segments comprised bythe foregoing groups I, 2, 3,

4 and 5 are given contrasting colors, as for instance, red for group I,green for group 2, black for segment 3, yellow for group 4 plus thefirst section of group I, and silver for the second and third segmentsof group-5. fi I Referring now toliigure 3 it will be seen that p the.voltmeter I9 is provided with five scales indicated by the numerals I,2, I, 4 and and colored correspondingly to the coloring on the face ofthe selector switch.

Cooperating with all of these scales is a single pointer (not shown).The outermost scale reads from zero to 2.5 volts; a portion of thisscale indicated at 24 is left silvered and is marked from i The secondscale reads in tenths of a volt from zero to one volt and is to indicatecable losses .in l oths of volts. The third scale indicates startingcurrent measured in terms of voltage and inthe batin Figure 1 ofthedrawings at 230, and it wiilbe dicating a maximum current fiow of 600amperes,

such as would be indicated when the starting motor commences to operate.v

The fourth scale indicatesbattery current and readsfrom zero to amperes.t

The fifth or innermost'scale represents the 10 volt and 20 volt scale,measured in terms of 0. to 10 volts. The operation of my improvedapparatus is well known to those skilled in the art, having beenembodied in thousands of test apparatus now on the market.

Referring now to the second feature of my invention, attention isparticularly directed to Figures 4, 5 and 6. My improved clip consistedin the first place of two members 26 and 21 pivoted piece 35, thustending to stress the element 35 in the direction of the pressure fingerso as to hold the cable clamp 31 in position while the clip is beingapplied to post4.

Interposed between the elements 34 and 3! is the 600 ampere shunt 23heretofore referred to;

the elements 3,2,'33, 34 and 35 are preferably made of heavy bronzecasting and are located so as to present a path of minimum lengththrough the 600 ampere shunt 2,3.

Consequently, I prefer to use its equivalent, say, a

60 ampereshunt with a suitable multiplier shown understood .thatreferences herein to a 600 ampere shunt include equivalents of thischaracter.

While such a small shunt cannot carry indeflnite ly the overload whichmay be imposed upon it, it is quite capable of carrying it for theperiod required for making. the test.

The clip shown in Figure 5 is provided with a cable 41 connected to apointed electrode 42 adapted to be driven in to make contact with theterminal post 5 as shown in Figure 4. There are two other cables 42-43carrying spring clamps 44 which are adapted to be engaged with thestraps 45-45 connecting the cells. The various circuit wires leading tothe selector switch connect with the various elements of the clip bybeing carried by an insulating cable 44 6 as shown in Figure 5. t

, It'will, of course, be understood that my improved clip may bemodified invarious ways without departing from the spirit of myinvention. For example; the .two clamping members 32 and 35 may be.carried upon the separate channeled sections and 21, whereby the tensionof the spring 29 will cause said members ftotightly en gage the post 4,proper insulation being provided to confine the current to the desiredpaths. If this arrangement is employed, the pressure finger 33 may bemounted upon a separate pivot and be spring pressed into contact withthe cable clamp 31.

With my improved clip when the starter is put into operation, a currentof from 200 to 600 amperes is required which necessitates a heavy shunt,or its equivalent, and the-employment of a special scale such as scaleNo. 3 in Figure 3.-

As soon as the motor starts, the generator either charges at a rategenerally not over 40 amperes into the battery, or if the generator isnot operating, the battery will discharge and supply ignition lights andother accessories at a 10 to 25 ampere rate. However, if the 600 ampereshunt is still in circuit it will still measure these curcable clampwhen rents of lesser value, but because of the small deflection on thescale it will be almost impossible to get a close or accurate reading.

In order to overcome this difficulty, the second shunt 2| of higherresistance, 60 ampere, for example, is provided, and a correspondingposition on the selector switch so that a 600 ampere shunt, or itssuggested equivalent, the 60 ampere shunt with a multiplier, may be cutout and a 60 trodes adapted to engage one of the posts of said battery,and a pressure member cooperating with one of said electrodes forengagement with the removed from engagement with said post.

2. In a battery testing unit, a clip therefor adapted to be applied to abattery during the making of a plurality of. tests, said clipcomprising, in combination, a pair of spring pressed memberspivote'ditogether, an electrode carried by one of said members andadapted to engage a battery post, a supporting membermounted on the samepivot as said spring pressed members, a second electrode carried by saidsupporting mem ber andadapted to also engage said post, and a pressuremember carried by one of said spring pressed members and adapted toreceive between itself and the supporting member the cable clamp whenremoved from said post, whereby the post. will be held in spring pressedengagement between said electrodes,

3. In a battery testing unit, va clip therefor adapted to be applied toa battery during the making of a plurality of tests, said clipcomprising in combination a pair of spring pressed members pivotedtogether, an electrode carried by one of said members and adapted toengage a battery post, a supporting member mounted on the same pivot assaid spring pressed members, a second electrode carried by saidsupporting member and adapted to also engage said post, a pressuremember carried by one of said spring pressed members and adapted toreceive between itself and the supporting member, the cable clamp whenremoved from said post, whereby the post will be held in spring pressedengagement between said electrodes, and an auxiliary spring connected tosaid supporting member for retaining the cable clamp in position duringthe application of the clip/ 4. In a battery testing unit, a cliptherefor adapted to be applied to a battery during the making of v aplurality of tests, said clip comprising, in combination, a pair ofspring pressed electrodes adapted to engage one of the posts of saidbattery, a pressure member cooperating with one of said electrodes forengagement with the cable clamp when removed from engagement'with saidpost, a cable associated with said clip and a pointed connectorassociated with said cable and adapted to make connection with the otherbattery postgby being driven therein.

5. In a battery testing unit, a clip therefor adapted to be applied to abattery during the making of a plurality of tests, said clip comprisingin combination a pair of spring pressed electrodes, adapted to engageone of the'posts of cable clamp when removed from engagement with saidpost, a cable associated with said clip, a pointed connector associatedwith said cable and adapted to make connections with the other batterypost by being driven therein, two other cables associated with said clipand clamps associated with the latter cables for engagement with the twostraps which connect the middle cell with the two outside cells.

6. In a battery testing unit a clip therefor adapted to be applied to abattery during the making of a plurality of tests, said clip comprisingin combination a pair of spring-pressed members pivoted togethen anelectrode carried bynone of said members and adapted to engage thebattery post, a second electrode pivotally mounted on said other memberand also adapted to engage the battery post, a metallic shunt mounted onsaid second electrode substantially as closely as possible to theportion which engages with the battery post.

7. In a battery testing'unit a clip according to' claim 1, in which ametallic shunt is mounted on the electrode with which the pressuremember cooperated.

8. In a battery testing unit a clip according to claim 2, in which ametallic shunt is mounted on said second electrode.

9. In a battery testing unit-a clip according to claim 3, in which ametallic shunt is mounted on said second electrode. 7

10. In a. battery testing unit according to claim 4 in which a metallicshunt'is mounted on the

